Fighting in the Name of Love
by Gtimes3
Summary: Will you ever burn out of someone's memories? Will the blood on your hands eventually bring about your downfall? This girl certainly hasn't fallen yet. Sanzo meets an old friend. Gojyo falls in love. Somebody gets an impromptu hair cut. GojyoxOC
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N_**

**_A/N. YoYoYo, and all that Jazz. New story. Saiyuki. Not mine – I wish – Etc._**

**_Enjoy._**

**_Chapter One – Back to the temple_**

They were surrounded by darkness; and she was cold. A tiny young girl, with eyes full of fear and anxiousness, a blanket wrapped around her petite form, comforting her, yet doing little for her desperate shivers. She backed away from him as he made his slow advance; holding his hand towards her, beckoning her forwards towards him. She stopped her retreat hesitantly, she was petrified of him, though he smiled with sincerity; she had no proof he was a friend.

The man reached into his robes and pulled out what little he had with him, a handful of the sweets he so loved to chew on during the most monotonous of days; a guilty pleasure, he supposed. He pushed them towards her on the ground – hoping she would understand the gesture as that of friendship, and sat down, his legs crossed, on the sandy ground. He smiled at her still.

Her big eyes betrayed her fear as the girl leant out towards the food desperately, still unsure if he was an enemy, the moment her hands clasped around a sweet, she yanked it back, pealing the wrapper away with shaking hands, before shoving it hastily in her starving mouth. She looked nervously up at him again. He just smiled encouragingly and gestured towards the food with his hands, pulling them down into his lap again when he was done.

The child reached forwards again, but this time she moved her whole body closer. The blanket dropped from around her as she attempted to get as much of the food in her, as fast as possible. When she was done, she realised that she had dropped the garment, and hastily yanked it around her again. Reverting back to her shivering. The damage was already done though, he'd seen her scars. She was wearing barely anything beneath the blanket, a small dress, ripped from her wandering, and dirtied from her days outside. She had scars and bruises along her arms, so many that one may believe she wore skin tight clothing. Though nothing could fit so snugly.

She was watching him anxiously again. Her eyes were less wide than before, and she looked a little more confident. He held out his and to her.

It was nothing to say that he was at least a little surprised when she accepted this gesture. She leaned forward a little, and touched his hand. He let her, she traced his hands with her fingertips, getting used to the roughness of a grown man's hand against her own, before she gently wrapped her small hand around the side of his own. It was a sign of trust. He smiled warmly at her.

They sat there with their hands in an embrace for a little while; the morning light was beginning to shine through the night, their breath formed small clouds in the dark, the sun was beginning to rise. The man sighed, and began to rise; the girl hesitantly followed suit. He had known she would. He turned around to head back to the temple; minutes away from where they now sat. The sun's warm rays fell down upon both of them as they walked away from the spot where he had found the girl. A smile lit his face as he heard the little girl's small steps behind him, following him.

It took longer than it usually would have to get back to the temple. He had had to slow his pace a little, so that the girl would be able to keep up with him. She tripped several times, picking herself up again, as if she had tripped many times in the past. Each time she did so, a feeling pierced his heart; one which he couldn't place. It was like misery, mixed with uncertainty. He had no idea what the feeling of – he was sure he would recognise it soon.

The sun had fully risen by the time the pair had reached the temple. He glanced behind him to see her reaction to the place. Her eyes were wide, and she had slowed from apprehension. Her hands still clutched at the blanket – out of chill, or fear, he was unsure. It was probably a bit of both.

He turned, smiling, he was sure she would enjoy her life here. She was sure to be a good friend to his latest student. She looked a little younger than him; but only by a few months; she was surely around five years old. He would ask her later; but he was unsure if she would know. She had hardly been well cared for.

Looked towards the temple to see the gates opening for him, and he smiled; picking up his pace a little out of habit, before the little girl reached out from behind him and held onto his robes, he turned back towards her, and looked down; smiling, so as to reassure her. It seemed to work, she relaxed her hold on him, but did not let go. He didn't mind, he started walking again, but this time a little slower.

As he approached the temple, he recognised the monks who had opened the door for them; Kazuo, and Kin. It wasn't too much longer, merely a few seconds, before he reached the door, the child still standing behind him. He greeted the two at the gate as custom, before looking down at the girl to see that she was peeking out from behind his robes, looking towards the inside of the temple, and at the men in front of them – she was anxious again.

He watched as the men finally noticed the little girl. He stood and calmly watched as they took in her dishevelled, and unkempt state. Her fiery red hair, which was dirtied, and filled with nature; such as the leaves which graced the left side of her head. He watched more closely at their reactions as they took in her red eyes, which left them stunned, for seconds, before finally their eyes swept over the dirty blanket which protected the rest of her innocent, small body from their probing eyes.

It was Kin who finally found the nerve to speak, his eyes looking up at him. "K-k-komyou Sanzo!" He finally stuttered out. "You cannot be serious! You, you can't bring that, that, that, thing! Into this sacred temple!"

Komyou Sanzo merely smiled back at the man. Sometimes it is disconcerting how far a smile will take you.

**_Hope you all liked it. Please Review :P_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Same old, same old. Etc._**

**_Over Apples_**

The apples were terribly red; the woman sniffed quietly, her eyes tracing over them, trying to decipher which one would be the best to chose

The apples were terribly red; the woman sniffed quietly, her eyes tracing over them, trying to decipher which one would be the best to chose. They were cascaded down the front of the stall like a waterfall, each placed so as you could see glimpses of the others behind them. She sniffed again; the smells of the street wafted around her, and lingered in her nostrils. The dominating sent was ramen, sold by a nearby street vender – what she wouldn't do to buy some right now. Unfortunately her budget would defiantly not stretch that far.

Finally choosing a decent apple, she pulled her hair out of her eyes, and reached across for her hand to land on a big, juicy, red apple; one that she was already imagining biting into. She knew it would taste good. The red ones were always the tastiest.

She let out a low gasp as another hand landed on top of hers; immediately snatching her own back, and snapping out of her revive to see who it was who had chosen the same piece of fruit she was aching to get her teeth into. A laugh greeted her. And haunting red eyes met her own – which widened as she took in the man's features. Red hair. Red eyes. Dark skin. And three long scars which graced his cheek. He was beautiful; he was a half demon.

One half of her brain told her to back away now; but the other half argued that if anyone should be prejudice, it defiantly was not her. Within the next few seconds, horrid images molested her mind; yokai, killing, ripping apart humans, with no regrets. She mentally cringed – her cheeks to well trained to show the red that violated her mind.

She tore her eyes from his, and looked back towards the apple; his hand was still clasped around it. She looked back towards him; intending to tell the man where to go – she'd got the apple first after all – his hand had landed on top of hers. He was leaning towards her; a smile on his pretty face. "I'm very sorry", he told her, his breath landing on her face. She mentally groaned, not for the first time today, whilst she clenched her stomach muscles, trying to prevent the grumble which threatened to escape. _Why did he have to have just eaten ramen; of all things_. The thirsted for even a mouthful of that junk. It was sad really, to think such a thing had her in such a state. She still really wanted that apple…

The man was speaking again; pulling her out of the depths of her mind, "What can I get you then Miss?" He asked; his intentions were not wasted on her. "A bucket?" She replied easily, using pubs and other male haunts had made sure banter came to her like a second language. "Scratch that, actually," she continued, "I'd really like my apple; if you don't mind."  
He was taken aback, his eyes betrayed his outer confidence, he leaned away, but it seemed he was not one to give up so easily. He pulled away the apple with his hand, and took a big bite out of it. She had been right, it was a juicy one. Her stomach's growling almost managed to escape; much to her inner distress.

"Fine", she almost growled back, swiftly grabbing another apple, the best thing, she knew, to do, would be to get out of this conversation quickly; she was lying low, she didn't need any distractions – no matter how beautiful they were.

She quickly shoved some money to wards the man selling the apples; muttering a low thank you, and proceeded to push her way out of the crowed.

_Shit,_ she thought, as she felt his presence behind her; he was following her. _Not good_, she told herself, picking up her pace, and slipping through the crowds – _being underweight sometimes helps_, she thought with irony, working her way towards loosing him. Within seconds, she could no longer hear his footfalls. She turned a corner, and slid into a busy shop – just in case.

_Damn_, Gojyo thought, as he looked around the bustling street, _I lost her_. He sighed loudly, and turned to walk back to the vender; the apple he'd had had tasted really good; he'd have to get some more for the journey. Goku didn't like fruit too much; he figured the apples would be safe.

"Gojyo!" A familiar voice called, as he turned away from the apple stall, a grin on his face, and a bag of big red apples clenched in his fist. It seemed that his companions had managed to catch up with him from the Ramen stall. _Shame_, he thought to himself, he'd been expecting Goku to keep them there for at least a little while longer.

Hakkai was calling him with more desperation now – maybe they thought they'd lost him. _Hmph_, he thought, Sanzo would be ecstatic, not to mention Goku. He grimaced, now he had another day of travelling to look forward to with the dammed monkey. Although, maybe that night, he'd manage to bag a nice looking member of the opposite sex. Yeah, that thought would keep him going for a while.

Although, he would have liked to get his teeth into the girl from earlier. She was hot. That mouth of hers was pretty fiery too though, _a_ _bucket,_ he chuckled to himself; she'd obviously delt with men like him in the past. He couldn't help though, but wonder, if that mouth was so feisty in other situations. It was a shame too, that they wouldn't be staying here long. She was the sort of girl he wouldn't mind perusing – something he didn't do very often. Not many girls said no to him; he wouldn't mind a bit of a change. The fact that she was actually attractive would make the game all the more fun.

Hakkai's calls were growing more desperate now, it seemed, Gojyo sighed, and turned towards the direction the voice was coming from, pushing back through the rowdy crowed towards his friends.

_Woo p Please Review etc :D_


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N_**

**_NormalStuffNormalStuff. You know the drill._**

**_Chapter 3 - Rain_**

It was only a short ride to the next town – it would have taken them only a few hours to reach if they went by foot. As it was, it took the Sanzo party only two hours to reach. Usually, they would not have stopped, but would have travelled to the next town. Unfortunately, about an hour ago, an unexpected bout of rain had come cascading down from the sky, drenching the four of them, and Jeep, and had not let up since. They had had to stop in this town for fear of them, or Jeep, catching pneumonia, which could have been likely; considering the fact that Jeep didn't possess a roof, of all things.

Because of this, the Sanzo party had booked into a hotel, whining about the bad whether, and how little land they had covered, while playing majhong. And it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

Sanzo himself had just kicked the other guys asses at the gambling game four times, and had now given up, his wallet a little heavier than it had been in a short while. He'd gone to buy the local newspaper earlier, and was now putting on his glasses, so as to examine it for a while. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be, as the others, namely Goku and Gojyo, kept interrupting his reading of said newspaper, with their constant arguing over the card game they had recently receded to playing, once Sanzo had given up on the gambling front. Apparently, swatting them with a fan a mere three times was not enough for them.

Sanzo let out a long sigh, before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it; his paper now lay abandoned at his side. He closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet smoke, his mind drifting lazily over the things he could do in this town, now that the rain had postponed their journey.

Hakkai, he was sure, would spend the rest of the day reading, or perhaps chance the rain and go and buy some extra supplies, hopefully taking Goku with him. That would give Sanzo a little peace, at least. Gojyo would, knowing Gojyo, would spend his time searching out the most attractive woman that would give him the time of day, and then do whatever it would take to get her into the nearest bed. Sanzo sighed again; things weren't looking good for Amarante, the pretty receptionist downstairs.

Sanzo sighed again, leaning back in his chair, and pulling his newspaper up and over his face, wishing that the world might disappear from around him; or better yet; that the youkai would suddenly go back to normal – then he could go back to his home temple, and get away from these idiots. His jaw set when, once again, Gojyo and Goku started arguing, and Hakkai started trying to make them shut up – it'd never work, the man was the best of them, but he still had too softer touch for Sanzo's liking.

Moments later, he was whipping out his gun and shooting randomly; the noise freezing the three other men, "Right," he said menacingly, "Who's first?"

The rain cascaded down around her. But it didn't matter right now. Her cloak was soaked. This didn't matter either. Her shoes were full of water, and made a horrid squelching sound as she took each step. The hood of her cloak was pulled as far over her head as it could go, and the front dripped over her eyes, down the front of her clothes, and onto the sodden earth road beneath her feat. Nothing mattered now. All she could think of was a fateful day not so long ago.

**_The rain was falling around her. She was soaked. Her eyes hurt from the drops that violated them._**

She would be at the next town soon. She'd been walking for several hours now, it had taken her longer than planned because of the poor weather. It hindered her journey, the rain was hard to trudge through; she could barely see. Now all she saw was the red colouring of the town walls ahead. Walls which were there for protection against demons. Youkai. They would never work, she knew. When a youkai wanted something, it would never stop.

_**His face. His piercing violet eyes reaching into her soul. His hair sweeping around his muscular form in the wind. His hands; forming the seals.**_

She had reached the gates now; she walked through into the town, and started to trudge down what she would recognise as the main high street. Stalls stood there, quiet and closed. The rain had started unexpectedly; people had closed their stalls and run for cover. She couldn't blame them. If she hadn't needed to keep moving, she probably would have wondered back to the last town. It had been nearer.

**_The fire had hurt. Everything hurt. Her eyes. Her ears. Her lips. Even her hair seemed to hurt. Her very core hurt. Pain tore through her like a whirlwind. She didn't know if it was emotional or physical anymore. She hid herself. She slid into darkness._**

There was a hotel ahead of her now, she shook off her cloak in the doorway, before shoving said door open, and breathing in the inside of the place, feeling it's warmth against her skin. A woman immediately came over and started fussing, before pulling her along and up to her room; telling her she needed to take off her clothes and get a 'good hot bath'. She would indeed, as soon as the woman left her.

It didn't take long for the woman to leave, she was apparently Mai; a fitting name, she was bright, and cheery to boot. When she left, the woman wondered into the room she had been given. It was nice; cherry red walls, with matching curtains and a bed. A bathroom led off from it, this was blue, with white furnishings. Defiantly not the worst accommodations she had had.

She headed straight to the bathroom; turning back only to lock the door. She yanked the curtains closed, and headed towards the bathtub, turning on the hot water. She turned around in the darkness; running her hand along the wall for the towels. Once she found one, she put it by the bath, in easy reach for her once she got out. Having done this, she quickly stripped off her clothes, feeling embarrassed for a moment, before pulling the hot tap off, and stepping into the scalding water.

The woman barely flinched, she needed the heat. She had never been a particularly warm person, and the rain had soaked through her clothes and into the pores of her skin, chilling her to the bone. The heat helped. She sat there for a while, soaking her body, while the water cooled. On such a cold day, this did not take long. She soon ducked her head under the water, her eyes shut tight to protect them. She only came up for air when she truly needed to breath. When she was satisfied, she reached out to the side of the bath, and pulled the washing products towards her, and proceeded to scrub herself raw with them. Who knew how long she'd have to wait for decent supplies again. Besides, this hotel was going to be expensive, she needed something to take her mind off of her freely growling stomach, she was going to remain hungry today.

When the bath was cold, the woman pulled herself out. She felt refreshed. Reaching out, she grabbed the towel, and wrapped it around her small body, tucking it in at the sides, so she wouldn't have to hold it up. When she was done, she searched out the light switch, flicking it upwards, she made her way to the sink, shoving a toothbrush roughly around her teeth, leaving a minty taste thick in her mouth. She pulled herself up again, and looked into the full length mirror beside the sink. She grimaced. Her hair dye had been completely washed out – she had realised the rain would do hell to her hair, but now she knew she was screwed. She needed to get more dye, fast. Her contacts had also been lost in the rain; this wouldn't be such a problem if it wasn't for her hair. She needed the dye, quickly. Not only was her hair stupidly noticeable; but because of it's bright colour, her already pale skin stood out even more. Green was deffinatly the way to go, having dark green hair had been fine, her skin had looked at least a little more colour-filled, as it were. And as it was, she was ill, her skin was even worse. She looked as if she should have been born an albino, not…

Well, there was nothing she could do now; in the morning, she would go and grab some hair dye – the spray sort, so that she could fix it on her travels – it was less conspicuous at least.

She turned and shoved her clothes over the radiator, before walking over to the bed. She couldn't leave her room tonight, someone might find her. She may as well make use of the luxuries here.

**+ Review please? x**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/n – not mine/etc/same old same old. Whatever/enjoy._**

**_Chapter 4 – Far from Home_**

"Stupid monkey" and "Stupid water sprite!" along with "Okay guys, calm down." Were the lullaby that Sanzo fell asleep to, and the alarm clock which rudely awakened him from his sleep. Hakkai, Sanzo was sure, had only stepped in on both occasions for Sanzo's sake; he had once confided in Sanzo that he sometimes found their arguments quite amusing. Sanzo, of course, didn't. He found them irritating. More than that, he found them downright aggravating.

So he once again started his morning with the words, "Will you two shut up? Your little love affair is getting on my nerves. Again!"

The shocked expressions on their faces almost brought a smile to Sanzo's face and evidently brought one to Hakkais. The way the two of them always shut up almost instantaneously after he had said the words 'love' and 'affair' always had Sanzo pondering on whether there really was something festering beneath the surface there. And if their constant bickering really was a façade. Then when their next fight about something petty stated again, he would retract that thought.

Thinking about Gojyo and Goku's incessant arguing reminded Sanzo that he would once again have to put up with it in the Jeep. All day. He wished he could do something; anything, to shut them up for even an hour. He and Hakkai had tried anything and everything that they could think of, but the arguments only stopped when Goku fell asleep. They started up again when Goku was abruptly awakened by Gojyo in a rude fashion – usually by him deciding that drawing on Goku's face, of sticking things up Goku's nose was a good idea. Sanzo sighed; they'd even tried sitting Gojyo in the front, and having himself sitting in the back. However, as soon as Goku had discovered the idea of 'poking' this plan had quickly dissolved into chaos. Not for the first time, Sanzo wished that he and Hakkai could complete this mission alone, or at least with some, less undesirable companions. Other times he wished he could just shoot the dammed idiots.

He was up now though, and it was time to start another day. He pushed himself out of the bed, and yanked his robes up his torso, whilst mentally preparing himself for another day in hell. Maybe today Kougaiji would actually manage to do away with Goku and the dammed Kappa. He could only live in hope after all.

Breakfast went the same way as usual. It started well. Sanzo ordered his tea and newspaper, and settled down in his chair, waiting for the food to arrive. Hakkai and Goku were having an in depth discussion about cartoon characters that Goku liked, while Gojyo was smoking a cigarette. Which meant that, mercifully, the two idiots in the group weren't fighting, for once. Sanzo was enjoying the peace.

However, once the food came, the peace and quiet rapidly disintegrated into…well…no peace, no quiet. Sanzo knew it was over the moment he saw Gojyo's chopsticks heading towards Goku's plate. He calmly put down his newspaper, and reached into his sleeve to wrap his hands readily around his gun – ready to use it when he needed to.

As soon as Goku realised who's gullet his missing food was going down, all hell broke loose. It wasn't long after that Sanzo pulled out his gun and shot of almost a whole round, in order to get them to stop. They were soon asked to leave, and did so without complaint. (Well, except for Goku, who always had a complaint).

For some reason, Sanzo couldn't help but feel that today was not going to be a very good day.

She was so hungry. All she could think of was her stomach. And how good an apple would taste now. An apple…a big red juicy apple…

She felt a pang somewhere in her chest as she remembered the man that had gotten hold of that apple she had wanted so badly. _Dam him_, she thought to herself. _It looked so good. Maybe I should have been a little nicer though, he might have bought me some food. Oh god. Food._

She kept on thinking about the one thing she wanted. She had half a bottle of water left; she was trying not to waste it, and so drank it sparingly, but at least she had some. She needed food. Even with her almost constant thoughts of food though, her thoughts kept returning to the beautiful man. His hair; and his eyes. They had been so appealing. She hadn't seen anyone else like him. Ever. Sure, she knew there were other half demons in the world. But she had never seen proof. She had always wanted to meet one. But when she did, she had pushed him away. She had needed to push him away. It was better this way. Maybe when she wasn't lying so low her stomach was on the floor, she could search for him. Maybe he wouldn't even recognise her, she'd had, as she had now, dark green hair. And contacts. She hadn't been able to afford another pair; but that was okay, red eyes were less noticeable than red hair. Or she hoped so, at least.

She reached up and felt through her hair longingly. It was short. Too short. It felt odd against her hands, so used to running them through long, thick strands of hair. Short hair didn't feel right. _Damn it_, she thought to herself.

**_Violet eyes. Rain. Fire and a sword. And the sword was swinging. Swinging towards her back. Could she dodge?_**

She shook her head, and pulled her hand away, pushing it into her pocket, as she tried to think of better times. There weren't many. She was almost too young to remember the better times. She was too young when the good times happened. Almost too young.

Her memories took her back to the beautiful purple eyes which haunted her dreams. Not the violet ones which glared at her through her current nightmares. Beautiful eyes which gleamed with sincerity and honesty. Eyes she missed like mad. Feeling erupted in her chest. She missed home. She missed home terribly.

She adjusted the cloak over her sleeve, and trudged onwards, her stomach aching, her feet aching, and her back burning in the heat of the sun. Her journey continued.

_It's boiling today_, thought Hakkai, as the Sanzo party headed towards Jeep, who was currently parked behind the hotel at which they had decided to spend the night at. It had been a nice place, and now they had to move on. The show must go on, he thought grimly, and what a show it was, he hoped it would end soon; the stories of youkai that the villagers were telling got worse from village to village. All were terrible in this village. Small children being ripped apart in the youkai's rage, supplies being raided, houses with respectable families burning to the ground…

Hakkai shivered, the thought of such atrocities made him feel ill, and cold; even in the blistering heat of the morning. After yesterday's storm, the hot weather was almost unbearable; but bear it they would; they had a mission to attend to.

"Let's go Jeep", Hakkai murmured softly, once the four heroes were settled inside. He reversed out and onto the dirt road which lead out of the town. Once they had passed back through the gates which they had entered through, he worked on circling around the outside; when he reached the back he turned off and onto the road leading to the next habitation. Always heading West.

"Feel free to go a little faster Jeep", Hakkai told his pet, smiling to himself, they might get quite far today, past the next two towns at least. He looked round at his companions; still smiling. The nearest was Sanzo, who sat with one leg up on the seat; his head turned away from Hakkai, watching the miles melt away in the heat of the day. An unopened packet of cigarettes was clenched in his visible hand, which hung over his knee; on which his arm was leaning.

"Don't hold back for my sake Sanzo, I don't mind the smoke, really, Gojyo certainly isn't sparing much thought for it", he said, chuckling.

"You should know me well enough to understand that my reasons aren't so petty Hakkai", Sanzo replied, turning back to look at Hakkai, his purple eyes piercing through Hakkai's own. "It's to damn hot to smoke, the damn Kappa is just a stupid addict." He added, turning back to stare out at the view.

Hakkai just laughed, "Then what would you class yourself as then Sanzo?" He really was a little bit curious, Sanzo's unusual dismissance of smokes had peaked his interest.

"Hmph" the other man sighed, "If we didn't have those two idiots in the back, I wouldn't need to smoke."

A chuckle escaped Hakkai's lips when he heard a snort from behind him. Gojyo was obviously listening in. He smiled at Gojyo in the front mirror. He turned back to Sanzo, still smiling, and muttered, "We'll see" softly.

Hakkai returned to looking at those around him, and turned next to Goku. The youngest of the four was sleeping; his mouth wide open for all the world to see. His hair was in disarray, probably due to his arms being folded behind his head, which were being jolted around by the constant movement of Jeep. Hakkai chuckled once again; at least Goku wasn't fighting with Gojyo. Admittedly he found their childish banter amusing at times – most of the time in fact – however, it was nice to have the peace and quiet restored for once.

Next he turned towards the front of the car, and glanced towards the mirror, to catch a glimpse of the last member of their party; the fiery redhead, Kappa, and his best friend; Gojyo. The man that never failed to amaze him; a serious womanising child. That was the only way to describe him. Such irony, he was sure. Though he had lost Kanon, a thought that made his heart clench as familiar pain shot through him; he was glad that Gojyo had saved him. He was happy to be alive; now he had good friends, and a life to live which brought something new and invigorating to him every day. Although at times along this journey he had wished to just go home, he had enjoyed most of it. It had given him an opportunity to see more of Sanzo and Goku; and the banter shared by his three friends.

Hakkai leaned back in his chair, watching the road once again. A town was ahead, around ten minutes away, judging by the distance. They would have to stop for lunch there, Goku would wake by the time they got there; he was always awake for lunch. Scrap that, he was always awake for any meal.

Thinking of Goku always brought about thoughts of his strict guardian. Hakkai had to wonder, as always, if it wasn't Goku who had saved Sanzo; rather than the other way around. Sure, Sanzo had brought Goku from his earthly prison, but Goku had been there for him to love and help. He'd saved Goku like his predecessor had saved him. Maybe that had done him some good at least; relieved his feelings of guilt over his master's death a little. Hakkai knew that Sanzo felt that he should have been the one to die; even if Sanzo didn't show it.

The sound of a loud yawn pulled Hakkai out of his musings, "Hey, hey! Sanzo! When are we gunna stop for lunch huh!"

"Stupid monkey; you missed lunch, you'll just have to wait for dinner", Gojyo replied, helpfully.

"Shit! No way bastard! Sanzo would never do that to me!"

Hearing a loud swatting sound made Hakkai turn around, doing so caused him to see Sanzo, standing with one foot on the back of his seat, leaning forward menacingly; while the two in the back nursed their heads. "If you two don't shut up I will do that to you, got that monkey boy? Kappa?"

Hakkai chuckled, turning back to the road. Knowing the answer already. He felt Sanzo sit back down in his seat a few moments later, and heard the sound of paper brushing against his clothes as Sanzo shoved it back down his sleeve. It was going to be another long, long day.

**_Thanks for reading – Review much?_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Next chapter chapter 5 or something…_**

**_Same old/don't own etc/go buy Saiyuki it rules. Etc._**

**_Also, thankies to my first reviewer :P Who is...looks it up Joycer22 ...it's nice to know people's feelings on this stuff...I know I'm uploading a bit fast. But I have some time off and I'm inspired...also, sorry it'sa bit confusing...I'll pull it all togeather soon...very soon... _**

**_Chapter 5 (?) – Travels (yeah it's crap. I know. I'm tired.) Enjoy_**

Teruo was exactly the sort of man that she would love to meet every day. As soon as he had learned that she was a traveller, and was leaving town that day, he had offered to give her a lift – he was headed West himself; he was headed to four towns away. And he owned a truck. He would gladly give her a lift if she waited a mere half an hour. And wait she did.

By the time the two of them set off, it was midmorning, and Teruo was positive that they would arrive at their destination by nightfall. All she had to do until then was nod in the right places, sigh, and sometimes add little titbits of information to the conversation. Teruo talked and talked, and talked. On and on he went. He spoke of all the latest gossip. She listened to the stories, barely paying attention – only to know when she needed to make a noise, to show she was listening. Sometimes he told bad jokes, which she laughed at, and sometimes he talked with love about his family, who he was returning to today. He told her he lived with his beautiful wife (Kagami), and two daughters (Midori and Mura), who all had the most beautiful shade of brown hair, and blue eyes. He was also extremely proud of his 'little angels' because they had their daddy's smile. A smile which she managed to catch many glimpses of on their journey West.

At midday Teruo offered her lunch in the next town, which she gladly accepted, yes, she would defiantly like to meet men like him more often – a lift and a meal, accepting nothing in return; not that she had anything to give him. After all; she was only a poor traveller if anything. When they stopped, Teruo ordered a huge lunch, and pretty much forced over half of it down her throat. Telling her how scrawny she was, and how she defiantly needed to put on more weight. She obliged happily – she finally had some decent food; she was not going to waste the opportunity. After stuffing her full, he also bought her a huge bag of apples and sweets when she commented on how good they looked in passing. He insisted that her company was enough of a repayment for the foods. For the first time in weeks, she felt happy.

The next leg of their journey got more interesting. Teruo started telling her rumours of a priest who had taken up with demons, and who was travelling the same way as them. She tried to quiz him on this fact, she found this very interesting indeed, but he did not know much more than what he had heard from the gossips of the village. It was a shame really, she would have been very interested to know of a priest who took up with demons. She was extremely curious once he had mentioned the possibility of the priest being a Sanzo. That had wetted her interest to no end. She would have to do more digging once she reached the next town.

Their journey ended, as Teruo had promised, just after nightfall. She offered to help him unpack, for all his help and kindness. And he gratefully accepted; as did she, when he offered her a meal and to stay the night with him and his family, claiming that he would love it if she met his wife and children.

Teruo's family were just as he had described them; all three of the females were beautiful creatures, with fabulous features; and you could defiantly see who they resembled; she felt that he didn't see just how much they resembled him. Kagami was a sweet woman who prepared them a huge meal, to welcome Teruo back, and to welcome her to the family home. She was very grateful. She introduced herself as Nyoko, which they accepted, without second thought; she almost pitied their naivety. Luckily for them, the woman they would remember as Nyoko was not an enemy to them.

By the end of the evening, she was extremely taken with Teruo and Kagami's children, Midori and Mura were beautiful, darling girls. She had wanted to be a mother for a long time; she knew it was very unlikely that she would ever have children of her own. But she could dream. She played with the children for a long while, which Teruo and Kagami were grateful for, as they got the change to reacquaint themselves, whilst Teruo told Kagami stories of the town he had been living in for the last few weeks with his stall. Through these talks, she learnt that Teruo always stayed in that village for these few weeks, because it was the high point of the season there, and low here. Selling jewellery was his trade.

That night, she slept in a soft, warm bed, made up lovingly by Kagami, whom she was in danger of rapidly growing friends with. The woman was just too easy to talk to. She was glad of having to leave in the morning, becoming closer to the woman would be dangerous right now; she might let something slip. She took the time to enjoy everything the family had to offer her. She took a long shower, and washed happily; making sure to use up the last of her hair dye carefully; covering her whole head after she washed her hair. Then she opened the window to make sure that the smell of the spray would be gone by the time they next ventured to the guest room.

Her dreams were filled with familiar things, beautiful colours; purple, beige, white, gold, lush, blossoming greens…

In the early hours of the morning her calm was shattered.

They had managed to travel four towns by nightfall, and quickly booked into the cheapest hotel around once they had reached the final town. It was quaint, and what looked like a close town, the people were all friendly, and the hotel had a homey feeling. They booked two separate bedrooms and drew to determine who had to share. Sanzo ended up with Gojyo, and Hakkai with Goku. Sanzo would have liked to have shared with Hakkai – he was the calm and quietest of them all after all; but he was still glad he didn't have to share with Goku – good lord that kid could whine.

He couldn't complain at the moment however, since Gojyo had decided to go out and 'have some fun' as he so elequantly put it. It was a likelihood that he was trying to get laid. _Scratch that_, thought Sanzo, _he's unquestionably gone to get laid._

Sanzo was currently making use of the calm to think; something he barely ever had the time to do these days. Although, lately it seemed that things had been a little quiet – too quiet. They hadn't been attacked for around a week; this had got to be a record. Surely something big was coming for them next. _Maybe getting monkey and kappa wiped out isn't such an unlikely wish to be_ _granted,_ he pondered.

Sanzo sat and wished that the youkai may have finally given up. This would definitely not be the case though; Kougaiji needed the scripture to complete the freeing of his father. Or at least, the person commanding him did. He lay back on the bed. He really had a bad feeling about this. He was glad that he'd managed to get more bullets a few towns back. He would probably need them soon. Knowing Kougaiji it would be very soon indeed.

At least being attacked had some nicer prospects – it would keep the monkey amused, and it would keep Gojyo distracted for a little while. Maybe he and Hakkai would have some peace and quiet for a bit. Provided that the other two idiots didn't get into trouble, and need some help out of it._ That would be too troublesome._

He supposed it would be unethical though, to leave them to die at some random youkai's hands, and to step in only when they'd got through the wall of idiots, and to him behind them. He was nothing if not a priest. Not a devout one, he did not even follow the faith, but he was a priest none the less. It was not much of an example for him to set for his disciples. Not that he had any disciples. Kids these days had no respect for great Sanzos. He supposed the kid monk they'd saved at the beginning of their journey might be a good disciple to him; he would go back there and teach him Mahjong; he had promised. Besides; there was no way in hell he would make Goku the next Sanzo.

He sighed and pulled his hands up behind his head, linking them. This was not the time to think about who his successors would be. He hoped to be around at least a little while longer. He was sure, also, that when he descended into heaven, the damned monkey would follow him. At least while the kappa was around, Goku had someone to distract him. He was sure he remembered a time when Goku and him were alone. Without a distraction, he was sure Goku was unbearable. Sometimes Sanzo wished he had never let the monkey out of his cage. Then he remembered all the noise the damn monkey had made in his head. Calling out to him for years and years; loudly, before he had saved him. He wasn't sure what was worse at present. The noise being in his head, or the noise being outside of it.

Having the monkey around could have it's perks of course; hitting him over the head with a paper fan, for one, helped relive a lot of stress. It was just a shame that the damned money was the cause of his stress in the first place.

Sanzo sighed again and sat up. Looking out of the window. It was dark outside, but he really wanted some smokes. There was sure to be a shop open somewhere. Maybe he'd even take the monkey with him. He wasn't sure why, but he was suddenly feeling, well, damned lonely, if he was honest.

With a grimace, he got up off the bed, yanking his robes back up his torso, and went to knock on the door across the hall.

**_Do you like cookies? Because I really like reviews…_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/n Same old same old, etc, you know the drill_**

**_I know I've been spelling '_**Kouryu' **_wrong; but I cannot be bothered to change it in previous chapters. (Becides, I like it like that). Sorry._**

'Shakujō' **_-Gojyo's thingie - weapon - whatever - apparently._**

'Smith and Wesson' **_- Sanzo's banishing gun/revolver/whatever floats your boat._**

**_Enjoy _**

**_Chapter 6 – Smith and Wesson_**

_It was the same dream all over again. She knew it was a dream; she had had it too many times to be fooled again. She knew she would wake and wish ever so desperately that this time it had been real. She was always kidding herself._

_She had travelled for days; days upon days, upon days upon days. It was never ending – so she had thought. But she was here now. Standing at the bottom of the steps. So many steps to climb before she reached her destination. But she could do it. She would do it. As she had when she was a child; she climbed the stairs one by one; counting them as she went. She had never counted them all. She and Kouryu had tried so many times in the past to count all of the stairs; many times hop skip and jumping back down to the bottom in order to start again once they had lost count. They had never managed it though. She did this time though; as she did every night. 601 steps exactly. So many. So many steps to get back home. She braced herself. She knew what was coming. The first night she had fallen back down the stairs and into an abyss of darkness. After, she had started to prepare. Every time she did so, she got further into the dream. She needed to get further into the dream._

_It was the sun first; it came over the horizon as she pulled her weary body up over the last steps, the temple and the sun appearing before her eyes. She squinted into the sun. The metaphor for her brother. And then he appeared from the light._

_She pulled her hand over her eyes – like always – and took in his form. He had grown. As had she. He was tall and beautiful as his master once was to her. His golden hair had grown out; as had his masters; as had hers, a symbol of family; of some sort – so she believed. They would all have long hair. Like the perfect family. She loved this thought._

_The robes looked unbelievably on him too; he shared such likeness to her master. They were both so unfathomably beautiful people. But there was one big difference. His eyes. Koryouu's eyes were striking. Purple. The most beautiful colour to her in the world. Through all her travels she had never seen someone with more perfect eyes._

_She sighed as she took in her perfection. Falling to the floor as his image overcame her. She had dreamed of this day for years. Ever since she woke up to find he was not there. Her whole body ached with the strain of her journey, and now, overcome with emotion, she sat on her heels, tears cascading down her face, as the man she had wanted to see so much ran towards her._

_"Akane"_ **Brilliant red**_, she was sure her name had never sounded so beautiful._

_She would not fade away this time; she refused to. If only in a dream; he was so close. _Kouryu_. He was so close; she reached out her hand, needing desperately to touch him. Her fingertips brushed the edge of his robes, the feeling silky under her rough fingers; hardened from her travels, from her many fights, and dirtied from the many nights she had spent wandering towards this spot; towards this moment in time._ **Everything relied on now. Everything added up to being here, with him, in the bright morning sunlight. Everything was perfect. This was living.**

This was when the black, blue, darkness overcame her. Akane's eyes cracked open, and the morning light; filtered by the window, drenched her eyes with the sun's glory.

Her hand was stretched out ahead of her; she brought it back towards he slowly. A sharp pain shot through her heart; and a feeling of disappointment washed over her. So close, she had been so close. She reached up and wiped the trail of tears that were trailing down her face away. It had been a while since she had had that dream. It was like a drug for her though. Her fix. Seeing visions of him. She sometimes hoped they were accurate, that he was coming to her in her dreams, to visit. His voice slightly deeper; his hair longer; like Komyou Sanzo's had been. So beautiful. She missed him so dreadfully sometimes, she could not bare it. She hated to admit weakness to anyone. But he was hers. She needed him back.

She got up out of bed. It was still early. But she wouldn't get back to sleep again; she knew this for a fact. She got up and washed quickly. Before leaving a note, and heading out into the morning. She needed a walk. She would go back and give the family her thanks later. She would not leave this town until daylight was thick in the air anyway. It was about five in the morning; judging from where the sun was in the sky. It was always sunny here, even so early in the morning. She recognised the place too; though through memories long forgotten; she did not know when she had been there before.

It was then she felt a pang in her chest. Something was wrong.

Gojyo had spent the night in a bar. He didn't fancy the idea of going back to the hotel and sharing a room with Sanzo, grouchy git, he thought. The only perk would have been that Sanzo didn't snore – unlike monkey boy, who he generally had the pleasure of sleeping with. The only time he vaguely enjoyed sleeping in a hotel with the group of men, was when sleeping in a room with Hakkai. That he could stand. They had nice little chitchats in the early hours of the morning, and played cards before bed. That was good living, as it were, on this journey.

Other good living, as it were, was the shear amount of women that Gojyo got to meet on a nightly basis and seduce. A woman a night. Tonight, he had met many pretty women, and had even got some a little while ago. Now he was enjoying the best beer in town with said woman on his arm. He was going to leave soon though. It was early in the morning, he would need to go eat, drink, and sober up before the group left.

That's why, at about five, he left the bar, the beer, and the babes, and started to walk towards the nearest ramen stand.

It didn't take long to get to the ramen stand. By the time he got there, the man who ran it had arrived, and offered to open early for Gojyo; which he readily agreed to, and ended up buying a lot more than he usually would have; as ways of thanks, and appreciation for the good food. Sometimes he could rival Goku at eating. Not, however, when anyone was around to see him. Even 'kappa' was a better nickname than that of 'pig'. Gojyo shivered; he was not sure if it was because of the thoughts of the new nickname, or because the morning was quite chilly. He thanked the stall owner, and left; walking around corners on his way back to the hotel.

It would take quite a while to get back; Gojyo had been forced to travel all over town in order to find a good bar; and the best one was the other side of town from the hotel. This was quite unfortunate; since it meant a lot of walking to get back to the hotel. At least, he thought to himself, the fresh air would do him some good.

Gojyo decided to take the back roads, so as to reach the hotel faster; it was also a lot more scenic. Gojyo would probably not admit it to anyone. But he did love wild flowers. They brought back terrible memories for him; the red ones at least. He had brought them to his 'mother' only to have them rejected. However, he had always had a soft spot for them. And here, in the back roads, there were many, many wild flowers. People had just ignored them and let them to grow plentifully. Here they were startling reds and purples. _So beautiful_, he thought, _maybe I'll give some to the pretty receptionist…what was her name…Emiko, or something; she was cute._

And so he took some time picking a handsome bunch of flowers. _I probably look like a sissy with these_, he thought to himself. _Or some mad lover boy_. He chuckled to himself, and continued through the winding streets towards the hotel. That was when he saw it. A huge gaping hole in the hotel wall.

"Fucking hell!" He yelled; throwing himself into the street, and scrambling over the debris which now covered the floor. Smoke was now pouring out of the hole. _Not good_, he thought.

A second later someone…no, several people, were out of the front of the hotel. _1…3..5..7_ he counted. He silently thanked God that Sanzo, Goku and Hakkai seemed to be in one piece. Four youkai were standing around them, seemingly taunting them. They obviously weren't getting very far. Gojyo almost laughed when he heard Goku start to yell obscenities at the demons. It was evident that he, at least, did not appreciate being woken up so early in the morning. He decided to sit and watch. It would at least be some early morning entertainment.

That was when he saw the other youkai. They were sneaking up behind the other members of his party as they were distracted. Suddenly he felt himself leaning forward; he pulled his hands up around his mouth, dropping his flowers in the process, to make a tunnel around his mouth, so his voice would be louder. He was about to yell a warning to Sanzo, when he was grabbed from behind; grabbed with such force that he bent forward, choking.

"Gottcha, you traitor," came a menacing voice from behind him._ Shit_, was his only thought.

The surprise only took a moment to pass. The shock was out of her system in less than a minute. She was too well trained to loose to the shock. She had trained herself too well. As had her master.

As soon as she'd felt the pang, she'd heard the blast. It shook her up inside; she'd let her instincts take over, and had chased it down to the source; coming out at the end of an alleyway beside a hotel. The first thing she saw was the debris, and then she saw him. That was what had shocked her. The redhead. His long hair failing around his face as he tried to yell at someone who was not in her line of sight. She saw the flowers drop, and his hands rise, almost in slow motion. Then she saw them. Three of them. Youkai, behind him. One grabbed him round the waist. So hard he was caused the lurch forwards; still in the demon's grip, and choke up his saliva.

That was all she needed. The next seconds were a blur as she threw her hand down into her boot to grab her gun from it's holster; which she left hidden inside of the dark walking boots she chose to wear.

Her aim was true, the gun missed the redhead by an inch, piercing the youkai who had a hold on him through his chest. He fell. The second fell not a moment later. The man had swung round by this time and knocked the other one out of the equation.

By this time, she had noticed what the redhead had been looking at; three men stood in combat with a group of maybe eight, or even nine youkai. She didn't have time to look. Akane's shakujō appeared in her hand, and she was off, swinging out the crescent shaped blade, managing to wrap it around the nearest youkai to her. Killing him as she pulled the chains together with her hands.

The others had noticed her now. Some remained fighting their original targets. But three broke away and headed towards her. _Shit,_ she thought, _now what._

Akane waited until they were quite near to her, before striking out with the blade end of her shakujō, bringing down the nearest youkai; before swinging it round, to at least hit another, who was getting dangerously close.

She missed; and he advanced towards her. She fainted to the side, so as to buy some time, before throwing her shakujō into the air, as if to turn it around to the other side; as she had done before. The youkai struck, to her left side, but he had underestimated her; she had grabbed her gun again, she shot towards him with precision.

Just as a chain wrapped around him from her right. She didn't have the time to wonder over who killed him though; she grabbed her shakujō from the air, and thrust the blade end into the second youkai; who had been trying to seize his chance whilst she was distracted.

She looked up as soon as she had killed him, her shakujō disappearing from her hand, as she lent down to grab hold of her gun; which she had dropped in the act of killing the third youkai.

Shit, she thought; two of the men were distracted, and the third was fighting of a youkai who was about to win. Her hands clasped desperately around her gun; she leapt forwards, took two fast steps, threw herself to the right, and pulled the trigger. Willing her aim to be true.

A second later she rose to find that it had. The man, who had been about to be made youkai – food was on the floor. She traced his body, from his feet, up his cream robes, past his panting chest to his face. His _beautiful _face. Surrounded by a halo of golden hair; pale skin, now flushing with the pace of the fight, his soft lips, through which he panted breath; and finally his eyes, which opened whilst she stared openly at him. They opened, looking towards her, and revealing the most breathtaking shade of purple that she had ever laid eyes upon.

_Holy shit_, was her only thought.

The next few seconds passed in slow motion; she stood there in shock; her breath coming in pants from the fight; as was his. They stared into each other's eyes. Suddenly, he was moving, shoving himself upwards, while he yelled towards her. But she heard nothing. She felt nothing. All she could see was him. Lying there on the floor before her. Nothing else in the world. Just this moment.

_He was reaching out to her, yelling; just like in her dreams, she reached her hand towards him, slowly. Then it was broken. The pain was like a wake up call; it was the feeling of someone smashing a gun against the back of her head, it was shear irony. It was the end. It couldn't be the end – she had finally found him, and now she was to die. The irony was too perfect._

_Then she heard it; the unmistakable sound of a shakujō's chains, whipping through the air, missing her by inches, wrapping round some – something, behind her. She no longer knew what. Her knees hit the floor; her head would follow soon, as the darkness stretched outwards to her._

_The last thing she felt was a strong arm catch her. The last thing she saw was the familiar view of the floor coming up towards her. The last thing she heard was the close by calls of battle, the familiar sounds of a shakujō, and the nearby calls of a Smith and Wesson revolver._

**_YahhhYahhhYahh. Long one_.**

**Brought it all together no?**

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** X**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Nother one/usual shizzle etc.**_

_**Chapter 7 – Into the memories; Into the dawn**_

All Sanzo had wanted was some quiet time. He had slept well that night. He had dreamed of the beautiful, lush, green fields which surrounded the temple back home. He had dreamed of his childhood. The rare moments of tranquillity, when he played in the fields with his sister. _No, that couldn't be right_. Sanzo didn't have a sister. He considered her a sister. The only part of that temple he would ever miss. A bright smile in a building full of frowns. Save for Komyou Sanzo, she was the only one who ever seemed to smile when she was around.

He had met her when he was five. His master had brought her back to the temple one morning, and stayed in his room with her all day. Later, when he came out, he told everyone that she was asleep. He asked the monks to prepare a room for her. They didn't believe she was to stay there. No women were allowed to stay in the temple. Komyou Sanzo merely smiled at them. His will was attended to. The child stayed.

It was a week later that his master had introduced him to the girl. He had introduced her as Akane. Brilliant red. It suited her. Her eyes and hair were a most fantastic colour. He was immediately curious about this new arrival. She was very small; she looked underfed, and young. She attached herself to him within hours of them meeting. He had assumed that this was because they were both very small.

Later on, he had needed to go to class. She sat and watched; quiet as a mouse, as he went to his lessons at the temple. She did not bother him once. He was surprised, but did not show it.

It was later in the week; after she had been trailing around after him, barely saying two words a day, that he heard the other, older, monks talking about her. The words 'half-demon', 'youkai', 'taboo', and 'bad luck', all reached his ears. He felt nothing though. She was growing on him; and there was no way that he could consider such a small child; a girl no less, as dangerous.

Soon, his master called him into his study, and told him about how he found her. Something he was not expecting. It was from this talk that he learned all about youkai kind, and about the 'taboo' children that were supposedly unlucky. A sign of pain, hurt, despair.

To the monks at the temple she was pain and despair. To him she was hope. A bright light in the darkness. She was another outcast who he could stay with when he needed a friend. He needed his master; and now he needed her; someone whom he could relate to. He realised now that he had never had a real friend before.

Over the years; the two grew together. He grew stronger, wiser, better. As did she. She grew into a beautiful young woman; like his master, she grew her hair out; as they grew older, it grew longer; and he began to notice the joy in her eyes when Komyou Sanzo played with her hair, and commented on the fact that it would soon be longer than his own.

He was slightly jealous of her though. Akane could view his master as not only a master, a senior, and a Sanzo, but as a father figure. Something he himself had tried desperately to do. But his Master, Komyou Sanzo, would always be that; Master Komyou Sanzo.

He supposed this was because Komyou Sanzo was his teacher, as well as his guardian. It didn't matter all that much to him though. Although he could not think of Komyou Sanzo as his father, he respected him just as much – if not more. He also began to think of Akane as a sister. He ended up spending every spare moment with her.

Komyou Sanzo had told him that when Akane was a nervous, scared child she had been a bud; now she was blooming – this was because those around her had nurtured her. They had given her food, water, and most importantly, love. He had been told by his Master that he should continue to shower her with love, and in the end he would reap the rewards of a beautiful, strong flower. This was something Kouryu intended to do forever; she was his little sister now, after all.

Everything changed the night he was made a Sanzo priest. His careless childish years were over. Now he had to take on his new responsibilities. He had to avenge his master.

He had left the next morning; never looking back; never even saying goodbye. He knew she would understand. One day he would go back for her. She would wait for him, she had to.

That was the start of the journey that had brought him to this hotel; laying back on his bed, while the morning light fluttered through his window, while the peace and quiet let him rest happy, waiting for the new light which would bring about another day of travelling.

It was then that the hole in the wall happened. Sanzo heard nothing until the huge crack started breaking away, then the blast, the bang, the crash, as the bricks fell from the wall and to the floor; three floors below.

He didn't think – he grabbed his gun, and shoved himself from his bed; fleeing towards the door; then out and into Hakkai and Goku's room.

Once there, he didn't have to say anything; within seconds, they were armed and ready, heading downstairs, where they knew the youkai awaited.

These youkai were clever – they soon discovered; they were distracted by those out the front; not noticing, until it was almost too late; that there were others who came behind them to help take the three of them out. Sanzo couldn't help but wonder where Gojyo was during the battle. Hakkai, he, and Goku split up the seven between them, he was in the middle; he fell back, fist-fighting the youkai – ready to get out his banishing gun when it was needed; he felt the other youkai falling around him; but he miscalculated; and fell backwards on the debris. _Shit. Shit? Shit!_ His mind was screaming at him; a youkai was almost upon him now; he grabbed his gun; but it was knocked out of his hand in a second. _No!_ He couldn't die like this – could he? _No!_ He needed his gun, he reached out, trying to dodge round the youkai…

He was pushed back by the demon, he fell on his ass in the rubble, his hands behind him, groping the ground for something, anything to help him, he threw his hands forward holding debris, nothing was working. He looked up, half buried in the dirt, into the eyes of the youkai who was about to kill him.

Then he heard it. The sound of a Smith and Wesson revolver. A banishing gun. Unmistakable to his ears. Then the youkai was gone. Dead. Falling to his right as he vanished.

Sanzo fell back with the shock. His eyes closing; trying to shut out the image of death. He'd seen it so many times, but he couldn't get used to the idea of dying. Death was truly a horrid concept.

His hands were holding him up from behind him again, his arms tensed to hold his weight. His legs were parted and his knees bent. He gasped desperately for air, his chest rising and falling with vigour as he tried to repay his fast built oxygen debt.

He quickly ran through his mind; trying to understand how he was saved…the youkai fell to his right, which meant that – on his left!

His eyes snapped open, his head turning fast to his left; fast enough for him to click his neck uncomfortably. It took him a moment to take everything in. His eyes connected with ruby red orbs. He almost thought they belonged to Gojyo for a moment. Damnit, he didn't want to owe his life to a damned kappa!

No, his eyes would express something different; not astonishment, not amazement, not, not love. Lingering somewhere behind a mired of emotions which ran quickly through those eyes. Eyes which he suddenly recognised. Those eyes which he had dreamed of only that night.

_Akane_

Her eyes were the same as usual, but the rest of her had changed. Her hair was dark green, and fell short around her face – barely reaching her chin. It spiked out in all directions, something red dripped from the left side of her head. Blood. Her face was splattered in the same red. But this couldn't prevent him from seeing the thin, healed, scars, which marred the right side of her face. Two long, thin, silver scars crossed through her eye. Another small scar ran over the right side of her lips, starting just above, ending just below.

His eyes glimpsed next, her body; she was scrawny – too scrawny – she was desperately underweight. Her clothes hung off her. Blue jeans and a black shirt – dirty for an unknown reason – and big walking boots.

It was when his eyes traced once again up her body that he saw it. A banishing gun, clasped in her small hands, hanging limply from her hand as she took him in – in the same way that she was taking him in. In amazement, she couldn't believe he was there either.

Then the moment was shattered. He threw his hands to the floor, shoving himself up, throwing open his mouth, trying to yell at her as loudly as possible. His breath still not quite caught yet. It didn't matter. She needed to see. _Youkai!_

Then the chains passed by her and wrapped themselves around the demon. _Gojyo,_ he sighed. He had never been happier to see the damned water sprite.

But as Gojyo's arms caught her; he couldn't help but think to himself; _it should have been me._

**_Rawr. Nother one done. Hope you likey. Reviews? x_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_Erm A/N_**

**_Woo. Short chapter – but my dress just arrived, so Ima go try it on…so get over it ;)_**

**_Thankies tooo: WanderingRain; Kls 12, and joycer22_**

**_You guys are awesome_**

**_To answer joycer22's q – maybe, not sure, they talk to me, I write_**

**_Well sorta – I have an overactive imagination, hey serah serah or whatever ;)_**

**_But yeah, I'll update again V.SOON. :D_**

**_Reviews are nice :D HintHint :P_**

**_Chapter 8 (holy crap) – Erm…I'll call this oneeee…..Redhead…yeahh…let's roll with that…._**

Sanzo couldn't help but think to himself how ironic the situation was. He had always wished for peace and quiet whilst in the company of Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai…well…not so much Hakkai as the other two. However, now all he wished for was Goku to start moaning about food, and Gojyo to make some stupid inapproximate comment about how big the hotel owner's rack was. It really was depressing to have the two of them so quiet.

Sanzo sat on a chair in the corner, surveying the room; whilst Goku sat silently at his feet – showing his support, so Sanzo gathered. The damned monkey always could tell when he was feeling down. Gojyo was leaning against a dresser nearby, watching Hakkai work. Hakkai was leaning over the girl on the bed; she was unconscious; he worked quickly and silently, sometimes telling the others information on how she was recovering. She had gained no real wounds when fighting earlier in the day; however, she seemed to have reopened some wounds on her back from stretching during the fight.

Sanzo sighed, he was confused – something he would not lightly admit. The woman mirrored Akane's features perfectly; those shining red orbs were not something you would forget. Her skin was also as pale as Akane's had once been. However; this woman was underweight; held scars which resembled those that Sanzo had gained in battle, and had short green hair. Her figure and scars he could accept. But the hair? Akane would never do anything to her hair; as a child she had grown it all out; until it was long and luscious; almost down to the ground. He'd had a sneaky suspicion she had grown it in order to be like Komyou Sanzo; their respective and respected master. She had confided in him once that she would never cut her hair.

_The grass was long and luscious; they were lounging in it whilst he still had some spare time before evening classes started. The sun was high in the sky, and it shone off her hair; causing the effect of making it look like liquid; spilling over the ground. He smiled happily. He loved Akane's hair; it was a fantastic red; as her name suggested – it was almost to the floor now; she had to wear it up in a pony tail to prevent it from becoming dirtied._

_He reached over to touch it; it was warm, as was she, from being out in the sum – she had been out here all day while he had had classes – his sister had always loved the sun. He ran his hands happily through the long locks, messing with it, but making sure not to mar it's perfection by making it messy at all._

"_When are you going to cut your hair?" He asked foolishly; he cut his hair about once a month; as did his master – though Komyou Sanzo had very, very long hair – he always said it was best to keep it nice and trim. Whatever that meant. Although he did cut his hair; he would never be a 'baldie' like the other monks at the temple; they all looked ridiculous. He tended to privately ridicule them in his head._

"_I won't", she replied, sitting up and turning towards him; her hair cascading down her back as she moved; it bore resemblance to a cloak, he thought to himself. "I like my hair long; it would be weird to have it short now. I don't want to be a baldie like you Kouryu!"_

_She was teasing him now. She knew how he felt about those stupid monks. She frowned seriously all of a sudden – the expression she took on when she was really thinking about something. He watched her silently in interest._

_She suddenly looked up; determination shining in her eyes; and clenched her fist. "I will never ever, ever cut my hair Kouryu! I vow it!" He felt his eyes widen at her declaration. "But, why?" he challenged._

"_Because the other monks don't like my hair; it's what makes me stand out. Because I'm not like them; I don't want to hide, I don't want them to think they'd win against me. I don't mind being different if it's who I am."_

_She had always managed to surprise him._

It just didn't fit. There would be no reason for her to cut off her precious hair. No one could have 'won' against her so badly that she was forced to get rid of her beloved locks. Sanzo even pondered on whether she had had one of those stupid revelations that Gojyo had had a while back, and chopped off her hair for that purpose. _No_, he told himself, revelations definitely didn't suit her personality.

It was then he heard the groan – which caused him to stand up so quickly he got head rush. Pulling his hand up over his eyes to stop the dizziness, he turned and walked quickly towards the bed. Pulling his hand away only when he reached it. It was when he'd reached the bed that he realised Gojyo had also pushed himself off the dresser to come and investigate.

The girl on the bed was now getting up; Hakkai was helping her into a sitting position against the headboard. One of her hands clutched onto his arm while she tried to pull herself up; the other rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"WhereamI?" she mumbled softly. Slowly looking upwards; seeing Hakkai.

"It's okay", said member of the party replied, "You're safe here; I'm Hakkai. Do you feel okay? Do you have and injuries? Do you need anything?"

She closed her eyes again; she seemed dizzy. She cracked them open moments later, turning her head to take in the room. Firstly the bed before her – then her eyes moved onto Hakkai; tracing his figure. Next they flicked towards Gojyo, who stood to Hakkai's right. Next to come under her gaze was Goku; who had stood up now; and was staring towards the girl with interest. Sanzo watched as Goku's eyes turned towards him, looking for answers. The girl's followed him. He watched as she flinched from the shock of seeing him.

Her eyes were the same as yesterday; just as he remembered from long ago. Bright red orbs, sparkling with the sunlight, which filtered through the window and bathed her in it's glory. It highlighted her few scars, and brought a bit of colour to her pale face. He also noticed how it highlighted the dust which lightly rested on her hair – a souvenir from the fight yesterday, he supposed.

He watched as her mouth opened and closed several times. Before she closed it, blinked, then, audibly swallowed. Then she turned towards him again, eyes opening.

"Kouryu?"

Sanzo released the breath he had been unconscientiously holding.

"Akane", he replied; hating how small his voice sounded.

The woman sighed, a small smile flittering about her mouth, her eyes closing. A hand reached upwards and ran itself through her hair – a sign of anxiousness, he remembered.

"Kouryu",

"Akane",

They had spoken at the same time. Akane blushed, embarrassed. "Akane", Sanzo continued; "Are you alright?"

"Hai", she replied weakly; "just a bit weak at the moment, y'know? And, well, surprised."

"I see," he replied softly, "you should get some more rest. Hakkai can send you to sleep again, we can talk about things later, we'll go and get you some food and water." Hakkai was already leaning in, ready to put her to sleep. Sanzo turned to walk away.

"Wait!" she called out suddenly behind him, he turned back to find her holding Hakkai's arm, to pull herself up with. "Kouryu, I need to tell you", she looked like she was battling with herself for a moment, she was tired, he understood. "I wanted to tell you that I; well I mean that I", she sighed softly, her form falling down towards the bed again, "I'm proud of you," she muttered, "you became a Sanzo after all."

He looked her over once again; she was falling into a deep sleep. A small smile played at his lips. _Yeah_, he thought,_ I did._

**_That's how they roll. Review?_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Woo…_**

**_Woo…._**

**_Well, because I just read a review by joycer22 which made me feel all happy, and I had just finished typing this; I decided to post it right away xD Rofl. I am sad but who cares :P_**

**_Sorry it's short, the next chapter will probably be what I was going to tag onto the end of this_**

**_Keep reading; and reviewing :D_**

**_xxxx_**

**_Oh yeah; let's call this one:_**

**_Chapter 9 - Accusations and uncertainties_**

The four of them exited the room together; Sanzo leaving first, and Hakkai leaving last, they shuffled out into the corridor. They all paused as Hakkai turned back to pull the door closed behind them. Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai all turned to face Sanzo as soon as the door was shut.

"So, it looks like the baldie has a lot of explaining to do", Gojyo started, shoving his hands into his pockets, and looking expectantly at Sanzo.

"Yeah Sanzo!" Goku piped up, "How come you know that lady in there? Huh? You gunna tell us? Huh? Huh?"

"Shut up, you damned monkey!" Sanzo snapped, turning away from the three.

"He's right though Sanzo, you do have a lot to explain; concerning our new friend that is", Hakkai finished.

"Fine, we were childhood friends", Sanzo replied shortly, turning back to face them, "Is that all? Are you happy now?"

The three in question turned to share a 'look' with each other. Sanzo sighed. It was not going to be as easy to get out of this as he had thought. He reached up to itch his ear, before turning to face Hakkai; "Me and Akane were childhood friends, yes, we were very close, and no, I haven't seen her for over ten years. I have no idea what she is doing her; Lord knows I almost didn't recognise her when I saw her. She's changed. A lot." He glared at the three of them, as they stared back at him. They were staring at him as if he had grown a second head. _How pathetic_, Sanzo thought to himself, fighting the urge to groan aloud.

It was Gojyo who rediscovered the use of his tongue first. "Who would have thought it?" He questioned, "The great baldie has a soft spot for women after all", he was chuckling.

The paper fan was well aimed, true and strong. "Don't put me in the same class as you, you perverted kappa!"

Hakkai sighed, and turned to leave, this would only result in an argument, he knew. "Come on Goku, lets leave them to it", he smiled at the boy, leading him away towards the kitchens, "we'll go order some food for our new friend okay?" With that the two of them disappeared, leaving Sanzo and Gojyo with some room to argue.

"Pft, I'm just kidding with you baldie", Gojyo continued, fishing a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. He turned to leave, heading along the corridor towards his room. "Although, if you know her so well, maybe you can give me some tips; you know" he turned around, "tell her what she likes." He winked, before turning around, laughing. "I've wanted to get a taste of that one since I saw her last week at the apple stall."

The click was audible, echoing around the corridor loudly. Gojyo recognised the feeling of Sanzo's Smith and Wesson revolver pressing against the back of his head. The priest's next words were filled with malice and foreboding.

"If you ever talk about her like that again…no. If you ever even think of her like that again, I swear you will hit the ground so fast even a God couldn't catch you. By the time I'd have finished with you, you would wish I'd handed you over to Kougaiji."

"That's quite some threat there baldie. Some might say it sounds like you're a little jealous."

"I don't think you're in any position to be making accusations, kappa. However, I will enlighten you as to why you will not lay a hand on Akane. She is too good for you; she is like a sister to me, so I suggest, unless you wish your corpse to be buried, riddled with bullets, you will leave her the hell alone."

"Okay baldie, I'll leave her alone. I prefer brunettes anyhow".

With that Gojyo walked away down the corridor. Sanzo stood alone for a few minutes; battling with himself over whether he should continue to enlighten Gojyo as to how wrong he was. Maybe Akane would chose to keep her current hair colour. As it was, he had no idea what had brought about the change.

The room was empty this time; last time she'd opened her eyes she'd been in the arms of a handsome brunette. It was probably nicer to wake up to than an empty room.

The room was large, with one single bed, in which she slept. A window overlooked the bed, and on the far wall there was an antique dresser; above which was a pretty painting of some flowers.

The room was painted a soft blue; which immediately made her feel at home. She loved the colour blue; it caused her to become calm; and reminded her of the sky, and the see, and of water. Talking of which; she needed a bath. She lifted her hand to her head, and ran her hand through her short hair. Dust drifted off her hair as her hand passed it; it caused her to sneeze when it settled on her nose. _Damn,_ she thought, _I really could use a shower_. She pulled herself reluctantly from the comfy, warm bed, and set about finding a bath or shower, and a towel. She soon discovered a door that lead into an en suit, complete with towels and soap. On the way to the bathroom, she passed a familiar chair, and realised with a pang that that was where Kouryu had been sitting, mere hours ago, when she had last awoken.

_Kouryu,_ she sighed. _What do I do?_

The moment she had seen his face, a flood of memories had overtaken her. She was sure her eyes must have glazed over. _Damn_, she thought, _he must think I'm ridiculous. And that speech about him being a Sanzo now? What was I thinking, I could have been more tactful, could I_ _not?_

A long shower allowed her to mull over the current problems which interfered with the simplicity of life. Most of these problems revolved around old friends and acquaintances. Most troublesome of all, for the time being, was Kouryu. She did not know, firstly, when he would be coming back. Before he did come back, she would have to figure out what to tell him about her current state of affairs. A.K.A. Why she was here, what she was doing, and she would probably, no, definitely, have to explain why her hair was now short and green. Although after this shower, she was quite sure her hair would just be short – the dye would be washed right down the drain.

Somehow, this thought was uncomforting. She had been hiding behind a mask for so long now, that she was unsure of how to act without one. Stepping out of the shower, and wrapping a towel around her, she turned towards the mirror. It was steamed up from the hot shower she had just taken, so she leaned forward and wiped away the condensation.

When she could see herself in the mirror, she sighed. The dye had indeed been washed out; her hair was once again the startling red she had been born with. She knew, in a way, her hair was beautiful. She loved her hair; really she did. In her youth, it was long, and thick; by the time she was eighteen, it had grown all the way down to the floor. She had loved nothing more than to brush through her hair, and have her hair doted upon by her master and friends as a child. Now she was twenty two, or thereabouts, with short hair, barely reaching her chin. It was unsettling. Her hair had always protected her in a way. Even being cut off, it was protecting her. Now she had nothing but the memories of the long, luscious locks that once hung from her scalp.

Next, she examined her face. Luckily, she had gained no extra scars in the last battle. But the ones she had already possessed were bad enough. Being thin, they barely marred her face at all. He would notice though; it was a likelihood he already had, he always did. She was sure they would fade, given time, but as yet, they were still there, visible to the naked eye. She sighed, it would have been better to have more scars on her body than her face. At least no one else would know of them that way. Dammnit.

Lastly, she undid her towel and let it fall to the floor, to examine her body; as always, the first thing she noticed was her size. Over the last few days she had managed to bag a couple of decent meals; thanks to the kindness of a certain man and his family. She was still underweight though; less than she had been, but you could still almost see her bones. This definitely wasn't attractive. Not that it mattered; there was no one around to see her this way. At least her clothes hid her body well enough.

Sighing yet again, she turned around to examine her back, sliding down the bandages slightly. Just as she had thought, she had been healed again; she'd managed to reopen the wounds in that last battle. It was probably the jump that had done it. Slamming into the ground had not helped; she was sure of it. However, what's a bit of bleeding, compared to having your heart ripped out as a friend died. Friend? Hell, he was more like family. She pulled up the bandages again; she'd live with it. It was worth it.

After towelling herself off; yanked on her previously discarded clothes, and brushed her teeth at top speed. Quickly returning to the main bedroom; but there was still no one around. She resigned herself to sitting on the bed to wait for the men to return. She still needed to think over her excuses after all.

**_A.N. I explained already right? Chapters for Reviews? :D_**


	10. Chapter 10

_**Okay, I have to admit. I had A LOT of fun writing this chapter :D It made me smile :P I hope it makes you smile to ;)**_

_**Chapter 10 – Hungry carpets**_

_**P.S. MAKE SURE you read the A.n at the bottom okay :D It explains something…but NOT YET. Read the story bit first – or you'll ruin it sillies :P**_

_**xx**_

_**NOW READ :D**_

_**Crash!**_

"Oh! I was under the impression that the food was for me. I guess the floor looked hungry huh?" A melodic sound followed the out burst.

_A giggle. Holy shit; she giggled. _Was all Gojyo could think of. The last few seconds had gone almost in slow motion. Since he had opened the door; the opening of the door. _That's where it all went wrong. _Gojyo suppressed the urge to slap himself in the face.

"_Excuse me, Akane!? Can I come in? I brought you some dinner!" He had called, balancing the tray in his left hand, as he pounded on the door. Hakkai had sent him up with food, seeing as Sanzo and the stupid monkey had gone to sort out arrangements with the hotel, so that they could stay overnight in this town again. Gojyo sighed; she hadn't replied. "Akane?" He called again._

"_Come in!" Called a voice from the other side of the door. _Finally, _he thought to himself. "I'm sorry," the voice came again, "I was in the bathroom." _Well, _he thought again, _I can't really blame her for that. Hmph, who am I kidding myself, I can always forgive a hot girl. _He chuckled to himself coyly; reaching down and taking hold of the door handle…_

"Hey", her voice pierced through his thoughts, "are you okay? I'll help you clean this stuff up", she walked off, through into the bathroom. Moments later she reappeared with a towel. She chucked the towel at him, and reached down to take hold of the bowl and glass; which had crashed to the floor. She quickly shoved them on the tray, before reaching out towards the spilled food.

"No, stop. Here", Gojyo said quickly, squatting down to push her hands away, and to clean up the food himself. "It was my fault, I'll sort it out. I can't let a pretty girl get her hands dirty right?" He asked, looking up at her and winking.

Gojyo couldn't help but feel rewarded, seeing the pretty red blush which fanned across her face. "Ah," she murmured, "hai." He smiled at her, and pushed his hair over his shoulder, to prevent himself from dirtying it with the food, which was currently littered across the floor. _Shit, _he thought to himself, _she doesn't even know my name yet, and I've already embarrassed myself. Damnit._

_He pushed the door open slowly; his eyes on the tray, balancing on his left arm. He stepped around the door, and took hold of the tray in both his hands, glad he had managed to avoid dropping it, and stepped forward to allow the door to close. Then he'd looked up, smiling, to see her._

_But he hadn't seen her. What he had seen was a perilously hot woman with fiery red hair, lying back on a bed, resting with her hands clasped behind her head. She turned towards him when she heard the door slam, rolling over to lean on her hand; her elbow pressed against the bed; and her shirt hanging down just a tiny bit, _just a little bit further God!_ For need of a distraction he looked to her face, only to find himself becoming absorbed into ruby red eyes. Eyes that he saw every day in the mirror; eyes that all of a sudden didn't belong to him._

_That was when he dropped the tray._

"So", her voice broke through his thoughts again, "you never did tell me how good that apple was?" she was teasing him, he realised quickly. He heard her sigh, "and I spent so long selecting the nicest one too. I hope you intend to pay me back." Gojyo looked up at her again, having swept up the mess on the floor, luckily for him, the hotel had had wooden floors. She was lent against the wall, by the bed, and underneath the window. The sunlight was penetrating the glass and falling onto her, making her hair appear even brighter; if possible. Her eyes were also shining, and they were set upon him. He suddenly realised; she was waiting for a reply.

He didn't mean to do it. He wanted to reply like a normal person. He tried to remember Sanzo's threats. He tried to remember Hakkai's more recent warnings about Sanzo's seriousness. But although all he could see in his mind's eye was a Smith and Wesson with his name on it. It still came out wrong. His days as a pervert had got him in a habit. His days as a pervert were numbered. Shit, his days were numbered in general.

"That depends," he replied in his most seductive of voices, the pitch dropping several semitones.

"On what exactly?" she replied brashly, her eyes still focused on his face.

"On how exactly you would _like_ me to pay you back", he smirked at her, and stood up; well aware that his body looked best when he stood. He turned towards her more fully, giving her a bit more of a show, lifting his hand to run it through his hair, 'accidentally' flashing her his biceps with the movemnt. It would be an understatement to say he was a tad bit proud of his body. Hell, it'd be an understatement if he said he was _very _proud of his body.

Akane stood up too, slowly at that. _Hell, _he thought to himself, _this girl is shameless! _She was walking towards him now, slowly, her hips swaying slightly, her eyes focused on his face. Gojyo was sure his eyes were about to pop out of his head.

She finally reached him, and stood to his side, she tilted her head up, standing up on her tip-toes a little, so that her lips came to rest just beside his right ear. He could feel her warm breath on his skin, causing Goosebumps to appear on his neck, and shivers to run down his spine. _Shit, _he thought, as he felt the shivers running through other parts of his body. He stared straight past her, towards the wall opposite, as she started to talk. Trying to take his mind of the feelings that she was causing to stir within him, deep within him and otherwise.

"It's okay," she murmured, "I'll tell Kouryu to put it on his tab."

It took Gojyo a few moments to realise that she had left.

_**OkayOkayOkay. I ADMIT the real name of this chapter is actually:  
**_

_**Chapter 10 – Anticlimax**_

_**But that'd just give it all away wouldn't it :p**_

_**Sorry it was short. But you can't really add to that. Can you? I reckon it'd ruin it. **_

_**Oh yeah. Sorry if it was crap :P**_

_**xxx**_


	11. Chapter 11

She had walked into the hotel's resturant after her 'talk' with the other half deamon. He was fun to mess with, she knew now. His facial expressions were pretty damn amusing.

Kouryu was sitting at a table, alone, with a newspaper; he was wearing glasses; a new developement, she told herself. She had never seen him wear glasses. Everything else about him was the same; his hair might have been a bit longer; but he had grown up as beautiful as he had been a boy. He looked just the way she had imagined him; minus the long hair. It was a pity; but he still resembled their master a substantial amount. If she hadn't heard his story so many times as a child; she would have assumed that he was their master's true son.

He would have been a far better parent than Kouryu's original parents; that's for sure.

She walked towards him and sat down in the vacant chair at his side. It took him a few seconds to put his newspaper away, but eventually he looked up at her, glasses still on.

She couldn't resist but reach up and take them off. Then proceed to stare into the violet orbs who's beauty had been dimmed by the glass. A sight which she had missed for the last decade or so (so she thought).

Eventually, he broke the silence, he turned away to take a sip of his tea, before waving over a waitress. "Bring me some food and tea", he told her.

"Hai Sanzo sama", was the reply.

"Once our food arrives you are going to tell me exactly what has happened in the last ten years", he told her, looking into her eyes. He had, of course, noticed the change in her hair colour. He wondered what Gojyo's reaction had been. He supposed the stupid Kappa had seen her and dropped whatever he was holding. If he was holding something, Sanzo hoped it hadn't been breakable. Unless it was Goku.

The girl ran her hand through her hair; she appeared to be collecting her thoughts. 'Damn', however, happened to be the only thought capable of making an appearance.

She decided that she would try to edit out as much as possible. At least all the really bad parts.

The only problem with that, however, was that it would leave her with the story 'well, I left the temple, travelled around a bit, found a guy I liked, and then we broke up'. Or something along those lines. Every other part was one she didn't want to tell him.

She looked back at him. It really was troublesome.

All too soon the food arrived; she tucked in, but not with as much vigor as she would have liked to - if she had he would think her hungrier than she wished to appear. She hated feeling so weak; especially in front of someone so important as him. Sanzo or no Sanzo, she didn't want her brother to see how lowly she had become.

In the end, she had just decided to go with the flow and edit out as much as possible. At least his 'companions' were not around; she felt far more comfortable just speaking to him.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

In the end, she had chickened out. Like a gentleman, Kouryu had waited for her to finish all of her food, and tea, before interrigating her. In the end she had 'made a deal' with him. She figured she might as well get something out of him; no one else knew the story of her life after all. It just happened that he would have to think about the 'deal'; he hadn't liked the terms one bit; apparently.

As soon as she had seen that he was about to get angry with the terms, however, she had got up and run back to her room.

She always prefered to take the high road after all.

_**REVIEWWW??**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**No idea what chapter...FINALLY UPDATED!!  
WAHOOOOOOOOO  
Okay Ive just realised there is another chapter to post before this but who cares?**_

Chapter name: Dreams.

It was the same as always, the dream, another repeated dream. It was years since she had left the temple; leaving only after she had confirmed the absence of her brother; and her master.

She had not kept track of the years; she did not even know her own age any longer; she didn't care to know. She knew she was an adult though; at least; she thought she must be. Her body had matured, she had grown; her hair had grown with her; nowadays she had to pull it back to prevent it from dragging along the floor. She didn't care though, that it took so much effort to keep; she'd never cut her hair; she loved it – it linked her with her 'family'.

She had travelled to this town out of curiosity. She had heard a lot about the 'woman' of this town. She didn't know why; but she wanted to. She needed to know if there were any women she could talk to about; well, more female issues. Aside from the cook, who came sometimes to the temple, and the woman in town whom she and Kouryu sometimes visited on behalf of Kourmyu Sanzo, who was desperately ill (the woman that is), she had never really 'met' a woman before. She had grown up in a temple full of monks; none of whom had truly helped her figure out 'womanhood'. Her master had tried; he had in most terms, failed.

It was on this day that she had met _him. _She had seen him first from across a market square; where she had been collecting food supplies. At such a time she had not needed to spend money on hair dye and contacts; and in general, times had been better. Better in every sense; Youkai were still as friendly as they could have been.

Her first thought about the man was that he was attractive. Attractive was a word she had been mulling over a lot recently. She had found quite a few people attractive recently; some more than others. He was one of the more attractive of them. Of course; she had always known that people, and youkai were attractive. It was just that she hadn't noticed it with such vigour until lately. She supposed it came with the fact that she was now an 'adult'.

She hadn't managed to see him overly clearly on her first look; but she did like the way he looked even from a long way away. He had dark hair and eyes; he was tall and muscular, and he had queer markings on her face, which she recognised as a birthmark. Every yokai had them.

She also felt certain frustration. Being a half youkai, half human, she had no idea which species she was supposed to be drawn to; in a romantic sense, that was. On the contuary, she found members of both to be attractive. Admittedly; more often than not, it was the humans she found to be attractive. They seemed to smile fair bit more than the youkai. She prefered a smile to a frown anyday.

This youkai was grinning his face off. A sharp stab to her chest told her that she found this ridiculously appealing.

It had only taken a few moments; but he was out of sight almost as soon as she'd seen him.

She hadn't had to wait long to see him again. She'd left her things in her hotel room, and headed out towards the nearest bar, in hopes of maybe meeting a woman whom she could talk to properly. A friend really would be nice.

When she'd got to the bar, there was a selection of bar maids all wearing, well, not very much. She herself was very conservative - she tried to hide her body as much as possible. It wasn't that she didn't have a nice figure; she didn't have a half bad figure at all, it was that she just didn't feel comfortable with showing half as much flesh as the women behind the bar.

She decided to get a drink anyway, and ordered the special. She had no idea what it was, but when it came, it was pretty good. The drink was sweet, just the way she liked it.

The company, however, turned out not to be so sweet. Within minutes of getting herself a drink, several men had approached her. They were all humans. She looked them all over when she saw them. Two had light blonde hair, one had dark brown hair. None of them were particularly attractive; they all stunk of beer and looked rather menacing, in fact. She shied away from them immeadiatly.

Over the next few minutes they tried to 'pick her up', or at least, that's what she assumed they were trying to do. They asked her to dance, they tried to buy her very strong alcohol, and one even had the cheek to suggest that she left with them. As if she would, she had scoffed in her mind. The warning signals were going off though, when one of them reached out towards her; very obviously trying to grope her. Unfortunatly, in the crowded bar, she had nowhere to move; and she was a little frightened.

When the hand was slapped away, she was pretty damn surprised. She looked up to see the dark skin of the youkai from the market above her. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders protectivly, and watched as he proceeded to threaten the humans in a very low, menacing voice.

When he was finished, the men made a pretty hasty exit from the bar; and to her disopointment, he pulled his arm away.

He looked down at her and smiled, "you okay pretty lady?" he asked her. She could only nod her head in reply. He kept smiling though, and ordered up some more drinks for the two of them. This time, she accepted; and was pleased to find that he had ordered her the same drink that she'd had before.

They'd gotten talking that night. He was the first person ever who had told her she was beautiful. He'd played with her hair the same way Kouryu and her master had done. For the first time since her brother had left; she felt really happy. She felt beautiful and happy; the way every girl should feel.

She hadn't wanted to part with him that night; and though her head was against it; her heart convinced her to follow the guy. Sometimes the heart was right over the head, she had not left his side since that night.

_**Reviews pleaseee?**_


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